(A) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fault detection system and a method for managing the same, and more particularly, to a fault detection system with self-monitoring and error-diagnosing mechanism and a method for managing the same.
(B) Description of the Related Art
The technology development in the manufacturing industry has resulted in many new and innovative manufacturing processes. Modern semiconductor fabricating processes need many important steps, which are usually vital, and therefore require a number of inputs that are generally fine-tuned to maintain proper fabricating control. The fabrication of semiconductor devices requires a number of discrete processes to create a packaged semiconductor device from raw semiconductor material. The various processes, from the initial growth of the semiconductor material, the slicing of the semiconductor crystal into individual wafers, the fabrication stages such deposition, etching, and ion implanting, to the packaging and final testing of the completed device, are so different from one another and specialized that the processes may be performed in different fabricating areas or locations that contain different control schemes.
FIG. 1 illustrates a fault detection system with real-time database disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,868,512. The system includes at least one data collection source 125, a real-time database 110, and a database management unit 120. The data collection source 125 is configured to generate incoming fault detection and correction (FDC) data. The database management unit 120 is configured to store the incoming FDC data in the real-time database 110. The database management unit 120 also maintains an incoming data subscriber list 130 for the incoming FDC data. Particularly, the operation of the system can be summarized in receiving incoming FDC data, storing the incoming FDC data in the real-time database 110, providing an incoming data subscriber list 130 designating a subscriber 140 for at least a portion of the incoming FDC data, and sending the portion of the incoming FDC data designated in the subscriber list 130 to the subscriber 140.